{"id":116365,"date":"2023-02-15T09:30:42","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T14:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/?p=116365"},"modified":"2023-02-13T12:01:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T17:01:23","slug":"citizens-worry-about-the-long-term-effects-of-keystones-biggest-oil-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savethewater.org\/citizens-worry-about-the-long-term-effects-of-keystones-biggest-oil-spill\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens worry about the long-term effects of Keystone\u2019s biggest oil spill"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Samhar Almomani, Publishing Associate<\/span>: Researcher and Writer<\/span> at Save the Water\u2122 | February 20, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2022,<\/span> an oil spill in a creek located<\/span><\/a> in northeastern Kansas was reported to be the largest for an onshore crude pipeline in over nine years. In addition, the leak is also the biggest oil spill in the history of the Keystone pipeline. The<\/span> broken pipe spilled enough<\/span><\/a> oil into the creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the Canada-based TC Energy company said that t<\/span>he affected pipeline had been isolated<\/span><\/a> and the oil was contained, many citizens that live around the creek worry about what this spill means for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Impact of the Oil Spill on People Living in Kansas<\/span><\/h2>\n

Many perspectives inform the issue of pipelines in communities like the one in Washington County in Kansas.<\/span> Some people find<\/span><\/a> that the pipeline provides people living in rural communities with a chance to find better jobs. However, others believe that these pipelines have caused nothing but harm to their communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Keystone pipeline presents particular problems, as it has <\/span>experienced three major oil spills <\/span><\/a>in the last five years. On top of this fact, the new oil spill has the fact that previous estimates of earlier spills by the pipeline have been underestimated. This hints that the pipeline continuously results in spills that are environmentally catastrophic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most recent oil spill impacted people who lived in neighborhoods with farmland around the creek. Specifically, they found those places torn down by trucks and bulldozers. The trees were chopped down and put in a pile by cleanup crews. Places where families used to have picnics, such as the Pannbackers, have been stripped from all grass in an effort to combat the oil spill.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Do Oil Spills Affect Health?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Oil spills are known to harm the environment<\/span><\/a>, with four dead mammals and 71 dead fish recovered from the latest spill, according to the <\/span>Environmental Protection Agency<\/span><\/a> (EPA). <\/span>Pipeline oil spills often result in environmental water damage<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n